NOORED KOTKAD (1927) * with switchable English subtitles *

"Noored Kotkad" ( The Young Eagles ) is an Estonian film directed by Theodor Luts. The film depicts the adventures of three students who enlist in the army, when their small country is invaded by their neighbors, the Russian Bolsheviks, during what became known as the Estonian war of independence (1918-1920). This became a standard subject for Estonian films, because during the last century, the Baltic States were attacked, liberated and annexed by their Bolshevik neighbors twice.

Besides the historical facts and curiosities involved in this Estonian film production, little more interesting can be said about this oeuvre because of its meagre artistic merits. The film was directed by Herr Luts during the silent year of 1927, but it looks like it was made ten years before due to the primitive, amateurish even clumsy film direction during the whole film, including poor performances by the entire cast, schematic, simplistic film narrative and nil techniques ( a too static camera, as well as my favorite scene: the killing of a Bolshevik by fist ... except you can see the actor's fist pounding the floor next to his victim's face). The artistic intentions are innocent and it might be fine as an Estonian production but it is many years behind the powerful and modern European and USA films made during the same period. Nonetheless, as a rare piece of historic interpretation from an era and region so little covered in the West -- or, for that matter, outside of Estonia -- the film is an absolute must for the historian and film buff alike.

DVD-R IS Approximately 87 minutes. Very good quality. Estonian intertitles with switchable English subtitles.